


Interlude I: The Prodigal Prince Returns

by Enk



Series: Astro Boys in Love [2]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Caretaking, Interlude, M/M, NASA AU, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-16
Updated: 2016-02-16
Packaged: 2018-05-21 01:06:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6032536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enk/pseuds/Enk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>a few weeks after the #spacehomos incident, Loki returned to Earth and confronted Tony about what he's done.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Interlude I: The Prodigal Prince Returns

**Author's Note:**

> an interlude of what happened between #spacehomos and what will happen in the second part of Astro Boys in Love.

 

 

Loki wanted to be too tired to have this conversation. It hadn't been 48 hours since he, Natasha, and Sergei bounced down certainly harder than expected in their Soyuz. Technically, Tony shouldn't even be here, not yet. There were still tests and debriefings and all that before Loki could return to their apartment in New York City. Yet, here Tony was, in an apartment he bought in Houston- view onto the Johnson Space Center- probably just so he could be here right now. Loki was too tired to know what to do with that. Loki wanted to be too tired to have the conversation they were about to have, but he was also too tired to stop his mouth.

 

“Just tell me what were you thinking?” He knew he sounded exhausted. He was. 

 

 

"What was I thinking about what?" Tony looked up from the dinner table he had set. It smelled like take out from Loki's favourite place when they had been in training. He knew it was still there, a few blocks from them. Tony didn't look annoyed or like he'd been caught in any wrong-doings. 

 

"If that's hot pot, I know you know what you did." Loki rolled his suitcase into the living room and took off his jacket. This was the hardest part, being back on Earth where his limbs were clumsy and heavy and it got harder to readjust after every mission. He looked at a minimum of six months recovery at this point and dealing with Tony's impulses didn't help.

 

"You're not happy that I outed us on social media.”

 

"That's not it." Technically, it was, but Loki had been fine with the outing of their relationship. The how on the other hand lacked desperately on all fronts. "Though really, spacehomos? What were you thinking, Anthony?"

 

"What? We're gay, we can say that." Tony looked at him like he always did when he looked for something more. It was like the man- once sober- had the ability to just stare at people and figure out what made them tick. It would never not be unsettling- and maybe Loki liked it but he would never admit that not even to himself. "At least sit down." Tony continued. "You've barely been back for two days. I'm surprised you're still standing."

 

He didn't rush to Loki's aid when he slowly sat down at the table. Readjusting had always been harder for Loki. Tony seemed to be able to go from microgravity to one G within a couple of days. And just as fast when he came to space like it didn't matter where he was. It took Loki longer to adjust coming back. Arriving in space, he felt the standard couple of days of congestion as his fluids shifted. Returning, the weakness he felt, the pull of gravity on every cell of him. It was also harder to adjust to the constant barrage of  noises, traffic, people talking, dripping water. It overwhelmed him every time and now he wasn't sure that six months would pass fast enough. That he came home to pick a fight with the man he loved instead of shutting himself away in his room at Johnson  showcased that beautifully. At least it did to Loki.

 

"We're held to different standards." Loki finally said. He was tired and hoped that Tony would just let it blow over so he could go to bed and sleep.

 

"You're right." Tony simply said as he put the hot pot out on the table and laid out the ingredients, all light, vegetarian, easy to digest with a stomach adjusting to gravity. Shit. "I should have chosen a better word and got swept up in the attention and adoration that came with it."

 

"How you were able to ignore the opposition to your choices is beyond me, Anthony."

 

"Easy," Tony said and sat down beside Loki, "they're wrong. No need to read wrong things."

 

Loki wanted to be mad, to tell Tony how equal rights were still working on being equal and how they were public figures and should behave as such, but then he felt Tony's lips pressed against his hand. When had he taken Loki's hand? A glance at the clock on the wall confirmed that at some point, Loki had lost five minutes. 

 

"Is this an attempt to distract me with affection?"

 

"Whoa there Spock," Tony smiled and let go of Loki's hand. "But you're right, it was an attempt to distract you. And to bring you back from where ever your mind escaped to."

 

Normally, Loki would protest against any help outside of what was required in the job description. He was a professional and didn't need anyone to help, but the way Tony firmly placed a spoon in his hand and nudged a bowl of broth and vegetables in front of Loki, he couldn't find the will to protest. They ate in silence which was Loki knew was hard for Tony and he appreciated it. After, Tony cleaned up and Loki went to take a shower. The second shower he had taken since returning to Earth. There were few things he missed about being back on Earth, and this was one of them.

 

The other thing- person- Loki missed wrapped his arms around Loki's waist and pressed gentle kisses against his shoulder blade. This, he had missed. Gravity he had not. He turned around to kiss Tony, to make sure the man knew how much he meant, when Loki's legs decided they had enough of the whole standing and moving thing and gave out under him. Of course, Tony was there like he had been the past five of Loki's space flights, leaning against him so Loki didn't have to carry all his weight. He closed his eyes and sighed softly against Tony's neck.

 

"I'm surprised they let you and your space legs come back here without help." Tony smiled against Loki's shoulder. “Good for you.”

 

"I do not have space legs." Loki looked at Tony with indignation, but Tony likely knew better, mostly because he carried the majority of Loki's weight as they walked to the bed.

 

"Course not," Tony smiled and kissed Loki. "Gravity just increased down here while you were gone."

 

"Precisely." Loki returned the kiss. And sometimes he wondered if Tony knew just how much he meant to him being the only reason Loki wanted to return to Earth. That and maybe Red Bamboo in Greenwich Village back home in New York. Perhaps Tony knew already, because he sighed with a smile and walked into the bathroom to fetch Loki a towel. Either way, it seemed appropriate that Loki should verbally confirm any suspicions Tony had about being the most important person in Loki's life. Not tonight though, because words were hard and gravity was strong. For now, Loki just wanted to not be damp. Slowly, he towelled himself off while Tony disappeared from the room. Not damp was what he would settle for now. Sleeping would be hard enough.

 

It was the hardest part about returning to Earth. Quite a few astronauts had problems sleeping without gravity hence why the sleeping pills. Not Loki, the first time he had ever gone to space, he had zipped himself into his sleeping bag and slept for eight hours. Slept like a baby\- the ones that sleep silently through the night- for eight hours, and when he had awoken, he'd felt incredibly energized and overall amazing. He knew Tony was much the same if he wasn't too absorbed in his own head to sleep. Back on Earth, it was different. Tony went between the two like it was nothing. And Loki, well, he always felt as though he was crushed by the atmosphere the first week back at home. No matter how much Tony had spent on the bed to make him comfortable. No matter how any drugs he took, how hard he worked during physiotherapy, how much time he spent talking to the ground crew, the first week back was always the worst. And Loki couldn't bear spending it away from Tony.

 

"Okay since you ate next to nothing, I made you this." Tony said when he returned with a glass in his hand. "Bananas, dates, soy protein, cocoa, and maple syrup. Drink the whole thing and I will not bring the food up here and spoon feed you for the rest of the night. Even put a straw in it for you so you can chug it."

 

"I believe that is a bargain we can strike." Loki smiled and took the cup from Tony's hand. It was heavy, but he did need the energy. The exercise regimen would continue tomorrow and he needed calories. The shake wasn't particularly great, nothing usually was the first few days back, but it was better than the alternative. Even the thought of solid food- despite being his favourite- turned his stomach right now. He drank, slowly at first but as the shake warmed up, it turned into a big mistake. It tasted like sweet death, wet socks, and perfume. "What the hell is that?"

 

"1000 calories and half your daily intake of all nutrients. Also cashew milk, thought I'd try something new, but judging by your face that's a no?"

 

Before Loki answered, he managed to down the whole thing. "Firm no, but thank you."

 

"I like it when I get to take care of you."

 

"Don't push it." Loki glared but with a smile. Tony liked to help. Mostly because Tony felt guilty for all the times Loki had dropped everything to be there for him. But he was too tired to contemplate any further and Tony took the glass from him without a word. It was barely past supper time and definitely not yet time for bed, but Tony came back into the bedroom wearing a lot less clothes and slipped under the covers beside Loki.

 

"This is nice." He said with a smile as he snuggled along Loki's side.

 

"Your feet are freezing." Loki said suppressing a smirk. "You really ought to wear the slippers my brother got you for your birthday."

 

"Seriously?" Tony kissed Loki's shoulder. "I'm snuggling up to you and you end my advances by mentioning your brother?"

 

"Oh, my apologies, I thought you were merely fussing about."

 

"I'll fuss you about."

 

The kiss was tender and exactly what Loki had missed. Somehow, Tony made the transition more bearable every time, just by being there, like he understood, like he knew. So, Loki leaned into the touch, knowing that Tony's promise to fuss him wasn't an actual invitation for sex, at least not yet. Tonight would be tender kisses and soft touched because fuck, the hadn't been able to touch weeks and before that almost a year. It was too long to be away from Tony and that wasn't something Loki admitted to himself lightly. Because every week he spent away from space was too long to be away from it.

 

Loki closed his eyes and exhaled. He missed the constant hum of the space station, hated how heavy he felt back on Earth. And Tony, Tony didn't snuggle close, just kissed him again, gentle and tender before laying down beside Loki. Loki who didn't open his eyes again but allowed himself to settle into the pillows. Then, through the silence, he heard the soft noises of a space station- not the ISS- from Tony's side of the bed. He listened for a few moments before he smiled softly.

 

“Deep Space Nine?” He asked without opening his eyes. Star Trek was Tony's thing for the most part, but the man had a habit to play soundscapes from the various ships and stations often enough that Loki could pick them all out by now. Tony made an affirmative noise, but didn't say anything else. It was time to sleep, because tomorrow would be another day. Tomorrow, Loki would go through another round of physicals and another round of debriefings before starting physiotherapy which would last for the next few weeks. He forgot how many. More than his previous missions as they were shorter. He yawned with his eyes closed. Tomorrow would be another day and tomorrow, he would realize that the only thing as bad as being away from space was being away from Tony.

 

For now, he just relaxed, listening to Tony breathe beside him, the soft noises emanating from the phone, and the rustle of the sheets until he drifted peacefully to sleep.

 


End file.
